meloy



(No Model.)

B. BEAUPRE 8v J. C. MELOY.

AMALGAMATOR.

No. 339,842. Patented Apr. 13, 1886.

l-l'llllll WIT/VESSES N. PETERS. Pholwlimugrapher. wnmmglon. D. CA

BRUN O BEAUPRE, OF SYD-PAUL, AND JOHN C. MELOY, OF HASTINGS, MINN.

AMALGAMATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 339,842,1iated April 13, 1886. Application tiled November 17, 1885. Serial No. 183,117. (No model.)

T all whom it may concern: A

Be it known that we, BRUNO BEUPRE, residing at St. Paul, county of Ramsey, State of Minnesota, and JOHN O. MELOY, residing at Hastings, in the county of Dakota and State of Minnesota, citizens of the United States, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ore-Amalgamators; and we do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Figure l of the drawings is a vertical section. Fig. 2 is a sectional detail. Fig. 3 is a crosssection.

'lnis invention relates to improvements in amalgamating apparatus for separating gold and silver from their ores, its object being to pass the pulped ore up through a body ot mercury by means of hydrostatic pressure, so as to bring the two into very intimate relations and entirely amalgamate the metal in the pulp; and it consists in the construction and novel arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter Afully described, and pointed ont in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings by letter, A designates a vessel to receive the ore, pulped in the usual manner so that it will flow. If desired, the vessel A may be provided with a pulp-agitator, A', consisting of a vertical shaft having` a bearing in the top of the vessel A, with an agitator-blade on its lower end and a pulleyl ou its upper end, driven by a belt from any proper source of power. The lower part, a, of the vessel A is funnelshaped, to assist the pulp to dow into the pipe B, which descends from the lowest' point. of said vessel. The pipe B runs vertically downward far enough to give the descending pulp a sufficient amount of pressure to accomplish its purposes. b is a valve at a proper point on the descending part of the pipe B, to cut ofi" the descent of the pulp when desired. rlhe said pipe at its lowest point curvesinto a horizontal position, having upon it a valve, b', on its horizontal part. It then bends upward to enter the central point of the bottom of the amalgamating-chamber C, which ber.

is a vertical cylindrical drum having its bottom cone-shaped, with the pipe B opening at c into the apex thereof.

c is au outlet-valve a suitable distance be 55 low the top ofthe anialgamating-chamber, and adapted to draw oil' the exhausted pulp.

D is a mercury-chamber standing vertically by the side ofthe vertical portion ofthe pipe B, and having its lower end coinn'iunicating 6o therewith through a pipe, el, at a point below the valve b. The said pipe is controlled by the valve d', as shown.

E E are guide-plates for the material passing through the ainalganiatingchamber, each of which is shaped like the inverted frustum of a cone, and has its outer edge secured to the 'interior ofthe amalgamatingchamber, and a central opening at its center.

` F is a rod passing vertically down through 7o the center ot' the top of the amalgainat-ingchamber, with its upper end threaded and carrying the nutf, by means of which the rod is made vertically adjustable within the chamor an airtight opening in the top of the amalgamating-chamber, so that the air-cushion in said chamber may act perfectly.

G G are circular guide-pieces, convex on the upper surfaces and having annular grooves 8o lower part or all of the amalgamating-cham- 9o ber. The said casing forms a steam-jacket around the part it incloses, steam being admitted either through the tube h or IL', to heat the pulp or mercury in the apparatus, with one or more pipes, h?. for the discharge of the 95 steam into the ore pulp near the bottom of the vessel A.

I is a device in the shape of the frustum of a cone and secured within the amalgamatingvchamber over the opening c of the pipe B. roo

The said device is open at the top, and is provided with the perforations i near its lower The rod F passes through a packing-box As many guide- 8 5 V`when the machine is in operation.

edge,in order to allow theamalgam to be drawn ofi".

Jis a'circularframeof suitable deplh,witl1in and across which are fastened metallic straps j, with their edges vertical and crossing each other at right angles, so as to form the rect; angular channels j between them, and hav ing the same depth as the frame. These channels have sufficient length to change the pulp coming from the pulp-pipe from a lateral toa vertical direction, so that the pulp passes vertically into the amalgamatingchamber. The frame .l is placed either immediately above the opening of the pulp-pipel or with its lower end reduced in size and inserted in said open.- ing, as shown. b2 ,is a valve or faucet opening from the amalgamating-chamber just above its lower conical end, and is used to draw off the an'ialganl formed above it.

The manner of using the apparatus is as follows: The valves b, b', and c are closed. The valve d is then opened until the mercury fills the amalgamatiiig-chamber and the pipe B up to said valve d, when it is closed and the valves b and c are opened. The pulp then descends and the pressure, because of the height of the pipe B, forces it through the mercury in the pipe B and in the amalgamating-chamber, bringing it into very intimate re lation therewith, so as to cause all particles of metal to amalgamate. The pulp,passing from the pulp-pipe through the channels j in the.

- thereby from a lateral to a vertical direction,

as hereinhefore explained. The device I directs thepulp up against thelower surface ofthe lower guide-piece G, which deflects it outward to the side ofthe amalgamatingchamber, and it is again deflected inward by the under surface of the lower guideplate E, and so on, so that it is made to follow a sinuous course through the mercury before it rises above it. The said guide-pieces and guide-plates also prevent the mercury from rising suddenly when the exhausted pulp flows oft' through the valve c. The purpose ofthe valve c is to allow a continuous iow of the exhausted pulp The air cushion formed by the rising of the pulp above the valve c and the opening of thek said valve to a greater or less extent control and regulate the working of the machine, the flow ofthe pulp, and the pressure in thepulp-pipe B.

If it is desired to pass a large quantity of pulp through the machineinagiven time, the valve c is thrown more Widely open than in passing a small quantity therethrough. The valve c is kept open to a greater or less extent all the while the machine is in operation, except when the amalgam is drawn off. The pulp cannot rise much abovesaid valve, because the air-cushion is formed in the top of the amalgamatingchamber, which air-cushion also prevents shock in working the apparatus.

Thesp'ecific gravity of mercury being less than l gold and greater than silver, the sil'veramalgam rises tothe top of the mercury in thev amal-L gamating-chamber, and when the valves b c 7o are closed and the valves b'l d' are opened the silver amalgam will be forced out of the valve Z)2 by the pressure of the mercury in the mer y curychamber D. As soon as allthe saidV`V v amalgam has been pressed out, the valves d b2 are closed. to prevent the free mercury from escaping. The valves b c are then opened and the operation continued. The gold amalgam, being heavier than the mercury, is at the bottom of the same, and is drawn off through the valve b. Ifv the amalgam consists of silver, gold, and mercury, it is drawn o either at the valve b" or the valve b', according to its specific gravity. The perforations z' of the device 1 preventing a pocket being formed outside of said device, the pulp in its descent not only forces itself, when exhausted, out of the valve c, but forces the mercury largely into the amalgamating-chamber also, where they most of the process takes place. A

Ifdesired, the valve c', instead of beings discharge-valve, may be on a vertical pipe leading toa machine identical with theoue above described, so that if any metal remains in the pulp after the first process itmay berepeated. level thanthe first, to increase the pressure.

The heating of the pulp andmercury in the pipe B and the vessel A and the-amalgama# ing-chamber by means of the steam-jacket HA and the discharge of the steam through the pipes h2 h2 into the pulp in the vessel A,-

The second apparatus is on a lower bei loo

as shown, greatly facilitates the process of amalgamating the metals in the pulp, it being well known that heat causes metals toA amalgamate more freely. A We are aware of Patent No. 260,389, and therefore do` not claim any ofthe devices showntherein, when broadly considered.

Having thusdescribed this inventi'ouwha.t

`we claim, and desire to secure by Letters. Pat- \1. The combination of the amalgamatingn chamber having a discharge-valve nearits top,

the pulp-pipe discharging intoy the bottom-of the said chamber andprovided with arvalve. to stop the dow of pulp on its vertical, part, and an amalgam-discharge.valveon its horizontal part, and the mercury-chamber discharging fromits lower end by avalvecoutrolled pipe,with the pulp-pipe just below the, valve on its vertical part,V substantially as the amalgamating-chamber. having a conical bottom with the device I, secured over4 the eue trance of the pulp-pipe into. thechambe, guide-plates E, and the gnide-piecesfG, subf stantially as specilied.

n 3. The. combination of the pulp-pipe.

las

provided with the valves b'b,,and"hearings.l l

pulpvesselforritsfupper.A end, the amalgamatfi'ngfchamber C, having a. conicalbottomndl?.

provided with thedischarge-valve of'near its 5. The combination, Wit-h thepulppipe and I5 amalgam-(iting-ohmnber, of the frame J, ha-V- ing the oi-oSs-piecesj, forming between them the vertical channels j', substantially as speciled.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures 2o in presence of two Witnesses.

BRUNO BEAUPRE. JOHN C. MELOY.

Witnesses: v

WM. HoDGsoN, ALBERT SCHALLER. 

